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Monday, July 25, 2016

Gunmen Kill Mayor, 4 Others in Southeastern Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Gunmen killed the mayor and four other people in San Juan Chamula, an Indian town in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas, in a shooting that left 12 other people seriously wounded, state prosecutors said.

“The state Attorney General’s Office reports the start of an investigation into the death of the mayor of San Juan Chamula, Domingo Lopez, and councilman Narciso Lunes Hernandez,” prosecutors said in a statement.

The other three people killed in Saturday’s shooting were councilman Miguel Lopez, Ernesto Perez, who worked as the mayor’s driver, and resident Silvano Hernandez, the AG’s office said.

The mayor, who took office on Oct. 1 and belonged to the Mexican Green Party, or PVEM, had previously been a member of the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

About 35 residents from nearby villages gathered in the town’s plaza around 7:00 a.m. Saturday to meet with the mayor and other officials.

“The protesters were expressing unhappiness with various issues when some armed subjects opened fire, hitting the mayor,” the AG’s office said.

Chiapas Gov. Manuel Velasco condemned the attack in a Twitter post and said the AG’s office would conduct a thorough investigation of the shooting.